Newsletter - 6 March 2022
First Sunday of Lent, Year C
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Lent is a favourable time for personal and community renewal, as it leads us to the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For our Lenten journey in 2022, we will do well to reflect on Saint Paul’s exhortation to the Galatians: “Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up. So then, while we have the opportunity (kairós), let us do good to all” (Gal. 6:9-10).
1. “SOWING AND REAPING”
In these words, the Apostle evokes the image of sowing and reaping, so dear to Jesus (Mt. 13). St. Paul speaks to us of a kairós: an opportune time for sowing goodness in view of a future harvest. What is this “opportune time” for us? Lent is certainly such an opportune time, but so is our entire existence, of which Lent is in some way an image. All too often in our lives, greed, pride and the desire to possess, accumulate and consume have the upper hand, as we see from the story of the foolish man in the Gospel parable, who thought his life was safe and secure because of the abundant grain and goods he had stored in his barns (Lk. 12:16-21). Lent invites us to conversion, to a change in mindset, so that life’s truth and beauty may be found not so much in possessing as in giving, not so much in accumulating as in sowing and sharing goodness (…)
2. “LET US NOT GROW TIRED OF DOING GOOD”
Christ’s resurrection enlivens earthly hopes with the “great hope” of eternal life, planting the seed of salvation in our present time (cf. BENEDICT XVI, Spe Salvi, 3; 7). Bitter disappointment at shattered dreams, deep concern for the challenges ahead and discouragement at the poverty of our resources, can make us tempted to seek refuge in self- centredness and indifference to the suffering of others. Indeed, even our best resources have their limitations: “Youths grow tired and weary, the young stumble and fall” (Is. 40:30). Yet God “gives strength to the weary, he strengthens the powerless… Those who hope in the Lord will regain their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles; though they run they will not grow weary, though they walk they will never tire (Is. 40:29, 31).
3. “IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP, WE SHALL REAP OUR HARVEST IN DUE TIME”
Each year during Lent we are reminded that “goodness, together with love, justice and solidarity, are not achieved once and for all; they have to be realized each day.” Let us ask God to give us the patient perseverance of the farmer (Jas. 5:7), and to persevere in doing good, one step at a time. If we fall, let us stretch out our hand to the Father, who always lifts us up. If we are lost, if we are misled by the enticements of the evil one, let us not hesitate to return to God, who “is generous in forgiving” (Is. 55:7). In this season of conversion, sustained by God’s grace and by the communion of the Church, let us not grow tired of doing good. The soil is prepared by fasting, watered by prayer and enriched by charity.
Pope Francis Rome, St. John Lateran, Nov. 11, 2021, Memorial of Saint Martin, Bishop.
Focus of the week
Chaplet of Divine Mercy Rosary
Before the chaplet we will have readings of meditation from the book of Saint Faustina Kowalska. These will be taking place Monday - Saturday at 10.30am.
Stations of the Cross
These services will be commencing from Friday 4 March. They will take place every Friday at 10.15am and 6.00pm in the period leading up to Holy Week.
Parish Day of Retreat
Saturday 19 March, 9.30am to 3.30pm
A quiet day with prayer, teaching and sharing on the theme of Pope Francis’s Lenten Letter - “Sowing Goodness.” Please bring your lunch. Coffee and tea will be provided. To register contact the Parish Office.